Tuesday, April 19, 2011

New Fatherhood

It was a beautiful day today. Well... it was 40 degrees, windy, and rainy... precisely the type of day that makes me hate the spring in Chicago. But nonetheless, a beautiful day.

My baby arrived today.

I recently received official word from the previously-deemed evil, soulless, and freedom-stealing Cannondale Bicycle corporation ... turns out, they have relented in their personal attack against my liberties and agreed that the defects in (my old bike) Greenzo's frame were their fault, and I am rightfully owed one new bicycle. Free of charge. I win!

That's right a brraaaaaaannd neewwwww biiiiiiiiike! This is outstanding and admittedly unexpected news. My reaction was a mixture of celebration, and sweet vindication.
"yay! great news! *pause* ... damn right! you people owe me a bike!"

Anyway, two downsides: 1) I don't get to pick the color. They have one bike in my size for warranty replacement, and that's the one I'm getting. 2) no fork... they are out of stock, and there aren't any available until late June. (if you don't know what a "fork" is on a bike, it's the part that holds your front wheel on.  see diagram.)

The upsides to the downsides? 1) the color available is the EXACT color I would have picked (out of several possible options). and 2) after I discussed this potential problem with my contact at Cannondale, she agreed to send me a "loaner" fork that I can use until mine finally comes.  So it won't match the bike and will look silly... which is obnoxious, because as a 225 lbs grown man in spandex riding a bicycle, if there is one thing I hate, it's looking silly.

So I get to REI for work tonight, and check this out... the bike is already there!  They sent it last Friday. There is no possible way for me to convey my excitement in words... so like any proud dad, I'll just post some photos:


there's the box it came in... (yeah, that's right, it's a box shot)





first sight... even better than the pictures... the matte black looks sweeeeeeet





here it is in (most) of its glory... I haven't "unsheathed" it yet... waiting for the fork to build it up... but that is a nice looking bicycle frame





gratuitous bottom bracket shot, a la the Bike Snob NYC... beefy





proud dad. clearly, only half my head is necessary to convey my excitement... and there's that pesky, ubiquitous thumbs-up again... it's troublesomely common for me. a habit that I can't seem to shake. are there any photos on this blog where I'm *not* giving a thumbs-up?




Anyway, those are some of the photos I took today at REI of my brand new baby. Can't wait to give it a spin. At this rate, I can be logging serious miles by May... a possibility I would have previously considered impossible. Really, it is difficult to convey the enormity of the goodness of this news.

Oh, and if you think the poignant sub-plot of Greenzo being violently killed and coming back... or "resurrecting" ... into something even better is lost on me during Holy Week, think again. It only makes the beautiful spring bike rides I'm looking forward to all the more meaningful. (Kelly suggests that I not compare Greenzo to Jesus... but I'm not making a *direct* comparison... just saying it's hard for me to overlook the symbolism. Think of it as me comparing Greenzo to Aslan... less blasphemous that way)...

Really though, I seriously can't wait to go on a bike ride.

-----

Rest day (worked from 8-10). Distance: 0

Food was good: cereal, grain blend and chicken mango sausage for lunch (if you didn't catch that, it was "chicken mango sausage"... not a typo), tortellini for dinner. Food: B+

Weight: 223.4 lbs.

No comments:

Post a Comment